In 2006 in Russia and Germany in order to implement the Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany in the field of youth cooperation of December 21, 2004 national coordination bureaus such as the Russian Coordination Bureau for Youth Cooperation with Germany and the German-Russian Youth Exchange Foundation were established.
For 15 years the coordination bureaus have been providing practical assistance to the organizers of Russian-German youth, school and professional youth exchanges (methodological, informational and consulting, financial, visa support, assistance in finding partner organizations for exchanges, advanced training). Thanks to this support, on average, about 600 youth meetings are held annually with the participation of about 17,000 people.
From November 20-23, 2021 under the auspices of the 15th anniversary of the coordination bureaus, the Russian-German partnership conference of the organizers of youth and school exchanges “Fair of Ideas – Russian-German Youth Exchanges in the new conditions” was held.
As part of the educational program of the conference participants discussed the current situation in the field of Russian-German youth exchanges based on their own experience in implementing youth exchange projects over the past 15 years in general and separately over the past 2 years, during the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as in the format “Brainstorming” discussed the further development of Russian-German youth cooperation in the following aspects:
- strategic goals for the next five years,
- what competencies are important for exchange organizers to develop,
- topics of youth online and in person exchanges,
- what tools can be used during conducting exchanges including digital,
- how to promote youth exchanges and bilateral cooperation in general,
- what kind of support the organizers of youth exchanges need from the coordination bureaus,
- what steps need to be taken to develop youth exchanges during the Covid-19 pandemic and after the lifting of restrictions related to the pandemic.
On November 23, in Hamburg, within the framework of the conference a solemn event dedicated to the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the coordination bureaus was held.
The President of Russia Vladimir Putin and the Federal President of Germany Frank Walter Steinmeier sent their greetings to participants of the event (video message).
“Over the course of their existence the coordinating bureaus created in accordance with the Russian-German Intergovernmental Agreement of 2004 have fully proved their relevance and effectiveness, ensuring a constructive dialogue between the most important components of civil societies in our countries,” the Russian President Vladimir Putin said in his greeting.
Participants were also welcomed by the Consul General of the Russian Federation in Hamburg Andrey Sharashkin, the Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation Grigory Gurov and the first Mayor of the city of Hamburg Peter Chencher.
The ceremony included:
- the presentation “Russian-German Youth Cooperation 2006-2021” presented by the Head of the Russian Coordination Bureau for Youth Cooperation with Germany Dina Sokolova and the Executive Director of the German-Russian Youth Exchange Foundation Thomas Hoffmann,
- panel discussion “Youth exchange as a task of the whole society” with the participation of the Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation Grigory Gurov, the Director of the Department for Children and Youth of the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth of Germany Thomas Thomer, the State Counselor of the Office on Labour, Health Care, Social Issues, Family Issues and Integration of Hamburg Petra Lotzkat and the Chairman of the National Youth Council of Russia Grigory Petushkov. Participants noted the pandemic has become an unprecedented challenge for bilateral youth cooperation, and the main task for the near future is the resumption of youth exchanges in person after the restrictions and additional funding for youth exchanges are lifted. In addition, further simplification of the visa regime for participants in youth exchanges and the attraction of new target groups were noted as priorities,
- presentation of projects of the winners of the Competition of the best digital youth exchange projects – 2021,
- solemn reception.
In total, about 100 people took part in the conference events – organizers of youth, school and professional youth exchanges, representatives of organizations and institutions from Russia and Germany that assist in the development of youth exchanges including members of the Russian-German Council for Youth Cooperation.
The conference was organized by MIREA – Russian Technological University acting as the Russian Coordination Bureau for Youth Cooperation with Germany and the German-Russian Youth Exchange Foundation with the support of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, the Russian Foreign Ministry, the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth of Germany, the German Foreign Ministry and the Administration of Hamburg.
